This is an ongoing story. If it's your first time reading the novel I suggest you start from Episode 1. If this episode is not where you last left off, then please check the Table of contents of all episodes released so far and find the last episode you read and continue from there.
Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 45 of 62)
Chapter Sixteen: Nathaniel and Emma
(Part 3 of 3)Another puzzle completed, another image was formed, and Griffin witnessed another memory that belonged to Nathaniel, his former self.
This memory was about two years later. Nathaniel had stayed and worked for the Hartley family. He and Paul escorted Emma everywhere, but when Paul would go and work at the farm, Nathaniel would go and work with the Hartley brothers, helping with the books. As Paul had predicted, Nathaniel was romantically involved with Emma and everyone knew it, yet no one spoke of it. Nathaniel and Emma were left alone to enjoy their romance. The brothers took a liking to Nathaniel and soon he was invited to join their circle, yet he never moved to the house. Instead, he stayed with Paul, and Emma would visit them daily at the little cabin at the edge of the farm.
The new memory was the day Paul had announced he would stop escorting Emma everywhere and leave the job to Nathaniel. It was already decided that Paul would stay at the cabin and live the rest of his life in peace, never having to work in the fields again. Emma and Nathaniel had organized a small feast at the cabin and invited some of Paul's closest friends, even the Hartley brothers made an appearance. It was shortly after lunch, on a very hot summer day, and everyone had scattered in the green and sunny field outside Paul's cabin, hiding in the shade of nearby trees. Emma and Nathaniel sat alone under a tree, talking, and laughing when Paul walked towards them.
"Paul, come join us. We need your wisdom, your expert opinion," Nathaniel was sitting with his back to the tree and Emma resting in his arms with her back to his chest.
"Yes, Paul, please tell us, do you remember those paintings we went to see about a week ago?" Emma added.
"Yes, the artist in that dirty little house at the centre of town, the one that smelled like rotten corpses."
"That's the one," Emma said and both her and Nathaniel laughed.
"Let me guess, you're wondering how many corpses it took to cause that smell?" Paul replied and they all burst into an even louder laughter.
"No, no, but maybe we should talk about that later. We were discussing the paintings he showed us," Emma turned and faced Paul. Even though she could not see, she still turned in the general direction of whoever spoke to her. She could touch an oil painting and form a detailed image inside her head; something she developed over the years because of her blindness and her love of paintings.
"What about them madam?"
"Which one do you think was the artist's best work? And Nathaniel, don't you dare try and show Paul what to say," Emma held Nathaniel's hands against her chest with one hand and covered his face with the other.
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Kingdom of the Red Rose
FantasyThere are five thousand and one Grim Reapers responsible for collecting and escorting souls between the two known realms of existence: life and the afterlife. Griffin knew his curiosity set him apart from all the other Grim Reapers, but he never und...